Bits & Pieces June 2004
Calendar
May 29 - Adopt-A-Road PickupJune 17 - Breaking Away @ Visions Cinema Dupont Circle
June 24 - July Newsletter Deadline
June 25 thru July 1 - RAAM comes to town
July 3 thru 25 - Tour de France
July 5 - Club Meeting @ Jennifer's (7:15pm)
July 17 - Adopt-A-Road Pickup
August 9 - Club Meeting @ Jennifer's (7:15pm)
September 6 - Club Meeting @ Jennifer's (7:15pm)
October 4 - Club Meeting @ Jennifer's (7:15pm)
October 9 - Adopt-A-Road Pickup
November 13 - Club Banquet @ Cozy Restaurant Thurmont (Tentative)
Featured Web Site
Pennsylvania Bicycle Access Councilhttp://www.bicycleaccess-pa.org
The Davis Phinney Foundation (Parkinson's Disease)
http://www.davisphinneyfoundation.com
Have a favorite website? Send it to us at clubmail@frederickpedalers.org
Bike To Work Day
Approximately twelve cyclists (including Mayor Dougherty and Alderman Marcia Hall) joined leader and Frederick County planner Jim Gugel on a short ride from City Hall to the MARC station on Bike-to-Work Day last month. Many other cyclists were already there to meet us, including Frederick Pedaler Kathy Dollar, pictured above.
See Breaking Away in the Theater
The public is invited to Visions Cinema in Dupont Circle on Thursday evening, June 17 at 6:30 p.m. for a special happy hour and screening of the Academy Award-winning movie Breaking Away in memory of David van Keuren, a cyclist who was struck and killed while bicycling to work last month. Tickets are $10 and the proceeds will go to support Food and Friends and the organization's work in assisting those in the DC Area living with HIV/AIDS and other life-challenging illnesses such as breast, lung and colon cancer.For complete information on this event, and to support this worthy cause even if you are unable to attend, go to Scott Sanger’s donation page.
RAAM Begins Soon
The Race Across America should reach our area between June 25-July 1. Area time stations will be in Cumberland, Hancock, Rouzerville and in Codorus State Park (near Hanover PA). See http://www.raceacrossamerica.org for more information.The first race, held in 1982 under the name, The Great American Bike Race, was won by the ultra-cycling legend, Lon Haldeman. Four years later, in 1986, the race actually passed through Frederick.
The race continues non-stop - that is, the race clock is always running. For the last three years, Alexandria (VA) resident and Frederick Pedaler Keith Krombel competed and finished twice.
You are invited to join Bill Smith, who plans on spending a few hours at the Codorus time station.
Bicycle Helmet Survey Results
The injury prevention community has been concerned for years that there were no accurate surveys of helmet use.Last year the National SAFE KIDS Campaign developed a survey to be carried out by its local organizations across the US. We participated in the advisory panel for the study. The key findings are:
- Only 41 per cent of the kids 5 to 14 at surveyed sites were wearing helmets, although the sites chosen had a bias for higher rates.
- Even at sites where helmets were required, only 52 per cent wore them.
- At sites where wheels are used for transportation, only 38 per cent wore helmets.
- More than a third of the kids wearing helmets did not have them fitted correctly. Conversely, two-thirds did!
- The effect of laws was not well evaluated. Although sites with state-level helmet laws had only 45 per cent wearing helmets and sites without state level laws had 39 per cent, the study did not take into account whether or not there was a local ordinance.
http://www.safekids.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=14390&folder_id=183
Consumer Reports Article in July
Consumer Reports is planning their biannual helmet article for the July issue, available to subscribers and news stands in June.The article will rate about 30 bike, skate and toddler helmets. Although that is a small cross-section of the hundreds of models on the market, it represents the only independent lab test data available anywhere, so it will be a landmark.
The article will be available at news stands and libraries, or you can download it for a fee on the Consumer Reports web site at http://www.consumerreports.org
The Helmet Update - Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute
Randy Swart, Editor - randy@helmets.org
4611 Seventh Street South, Arlington, VA 22204-1419 USA
(703) 486-0100 (voice or fax)
info@helmets.org
http://www.helmets.org
An Offer From a Pennsylvania B & B
We are a B&B located about 20 miles from Altoona. We are located on Route 45 about half way to State College, which is Bicycle Route G and offers one of the most beautiful rides in the area. We would like to offer the Frederick Pedalers Club a special rate if members of your group decides to do an outing in Central PA. We have drafted several rides which include the special sites of the area....caves, an historic fort, and Amish communities.If your group decides to come this direction and reserves the whole B&B (6 rooms), we will offer a ten percent discount. We will be happy to work with you to make certain your outing is a memorable one.
Please feel welcome to visit our website and/or call us or email for more information.
Linda and Barry Vance
Cedar Hill at Spruce Creek B&B
http://www.cedarhill-sprucecreek.com
Construction Ahead
Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) will be replacing three bridges on MD 17 in the next year. They are: (1) just north of Middlepoint Rd, (2) just south of Highland School Rd and (3) just south of Bittle Rd. The new bridges will have two 11-foot travel lanes and 4-foot wide shoulders. Traffic will be detoured onto Harp Hill Road.Plans call for the construction to begin in August of this year and be completed by August of 2005.
Free Bicycle Safety Classes in DC
DDOT, in cooperation with the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, is sponsoring bicycle safety classes over the next 2 months.You'll learn proper lane positioning and traffic interaction, basic bicycle maintenance, how to use bike gears for a more comfortable ride, and bike handling skills to help you respond quickly and confidently to potential hazards.
You attend one classroom session and one on-road session - then you'll be ready to conquer the streets. All weekday classes run from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm, Sunday (5/23 and 6/20) classes run from 10 am to noon. Helmets are required for all on road classes.
June Schedule:
7th 6:00pm - 8:30pm (in class)
14th 6:00pm - 8:30pm (in class)
20th 10am - 12noon (on road)
Location:
3rd District Police Station
1620 V Street, NW
Washington, DC
RSVP: 202.628.2500 or waba@waba.org
Tip of The Month
Riding in TrafficBeware the motorist who is passing you as an intersection approaches. He/she may misjudge your speed (or not notice you) and attempt to turn right immediately after passing you.
To remedy this problem, do not ride too far to the right as you near the intersection. You are more likely to be noticed to the left. This also allows you the room to move right and/or stop if necessary to avoid a collision.
Another 'tight spot' to avoid is the door zone. When cycling on a roadway where there is car parking on your right, ride four feet to the left of the parked vehicles. This keeps you far enough away so that, if a car door is opened, it will not strike you and push you out into (or under) vehicles passing on your left. This is the kind of 'door prize' to be avoided.